About

Mission

The Coral Gables Museum celebrates the 1920’s planned community of Coral Gables and presents exhibits and programs that examine the built environment.

The Museum’s mission is to celebrate, investigate and explore the civic arts of architecture and urban and environmental design, including fostering an appreciation for the history, vision, and cultural landscape of Coral Gables; promoting beauty and planning as well as historic and environmental preservation for a broad audience, including children, families, and community members, as well as local, regional, national and international visitors. The museum optimizes its mission by cultivating effective partnerships, and providing programming that includes exhibitions, collections, educational offerings, lectures, tours, publications and special events.

History

In 2003, the non-profit Coral Gables Museum Corp. was formed under the leadership of the City of Coral Gables to direct and operate a museum in the Old Police and Fire Station. In 2008, work began in earnest on the restoration, renovation and expansion of the 1939 WPA building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The architect Jorge Hernandez together with Dooley Mack Constructors led the historic preservation project. On October 10, 2010 (10-10-10), Museum staff occupied the building and reopened it to the public. In November 2011, the Coral Gables Museum unveiled the inaugural exhibits and began its first year of full operation. In 2013, the Coral Gables Museum became the Official Visitor Center for the City Beautiful.

The Museum is a true public/private partnership between the City of Coral Gables and the Coral Gables Museum Corp., a private, not for profit 501.c.3 corporation operating an educational cultural institution within a City owned facility. The Museum raises its own operating budget to fund the exhibitions and educational programs it provides, through memberships, private and government grants, admissions, earned income and, most importantly, with contributions from community members who believe in our mission.

The museum complex

The Coral Gables Museum’s facility consists of the historic site, the Old Police and Fire Station, and additional galleries and outdoor spaces that were created in the 2010. New spaces include the 3000 square foot Fewell Gallery, a beautiful 5000 square foot public plaza and a courtyard off of the main lobby.

Visitors can explore the building’s history as the Old Police and Fire Station by viewing the photography exhibit in the lobby area, taking a cell phone audio tour, or scheduling a guided tour. Inside the building, visitors can see the former jail cells, courtroom and apparatus bay room. The building’s exterior features WPA artworks, including firefighter busts, that add striking decorative features to the building’s architecture, which is a blending of “Depression Moderne” and Mediterranean Revival.

The Museum is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, having been restored and constructed utilizing best environmental practices and materials. Additions to the existing building and new construction are sympathetic to the original design.

Getting here

The Museum, which has a Metrobus stop for Routes 56 and 24 at its front door, is in the heart of downtown Coral Gables. Next door to the Museum is Books & Books, a successful independent bookseller and neighbors include the Coral Gables Art Cinema; the Columbian Consulate and a number of locally owned and operated businesses, restaurants and hotels. The Museum is easily accessed from the Douglas Road Metrorail Station. The Coral Gables Ponce de Leon Trolley, which stops at the Douglas Road Station travels through downtown Coral Gables and stops just one block from the Museum at Aragon Avenue. Convenient parking for Museum visitors is located at the City of Coral Gables Museum Parking Garage at 250 Aragon Avenue.

The Museum is a designated Bike-Friendly Business and has 6 bike racks on site for visitors who prefer biking.